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Z-View: Winter World #5 by Dixon and Giorello

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Winter World created by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino.

Winter World #4 published by IDW Publishing.

Writer: Chuck Dixon

Artist: Thomas Giorello

Colorist: Diego Rodriguez

Letterer: Robbie Robbins

 

Great Jumping-on Point! Scully, Wynn and Rah-Rah are on foot without food or shelter in a brutal world where death stalks their every step. Their vehicle has been stolen by a mystery woman and killing cold, starvation, giant predators and a mountain range won’t stop them from getting it back! A new arc begins with the rich, illustrative artwork of Tomas Giorello! Bring your woolies, it’s going to be a long, cold winter!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Thomas Giorello is an excellent choice for the artist for the next story arc.
  • Rodriguez’s colors continue to complement the art.
  • “Hate keeps Skitters warm.”
  • Rah-rah is one brave badger.
  • Pages 15, 19 and 20 especially shine.

The Bad:

  • What toll collectors get instead of candy.
  • What Scully finds instead of thieves and liars.

The Ugly:

  • Scully’s situation.

 

Winter World #5 is for mature readers due to violence.

Rating:

Z-View: Winter World #2 by Dixon & Guice from IDW

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Winter World created by Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino.

Winter World #2 published by IDW Publishing.

Writer: Chuck Dixon

Artist: Butch Guice

Colorist: Diego Rodriguez

Letterer: Robbie Robbins

 

The saga of Scully and Wynn continues as they search for a fabled village by the sea where rumors tell of a warm heaven in this cold hell. Wynn is still in search of her parents and the village of La Niña may be the place they were heading when she was abandoned as a child. Scully just wants to find enough fuel to keep their new vehicle on the move. But will they find death at the end of the icy road?

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Chuck Dixon continues to write a story that moves.
  • Butch Guice’s art coupled with Diego Rodriguez’s colors is as Burgess Meredith would say, “a ting of beauty!”
  • Wynn is a kid who has had to grow up too fast and Dixon never loses sight of that.

The Bad:

  • I was expecting more action at the canal crossing, but Dixon is good at keeping us guessing.
  • Stepping into a trip wire when you’re sneaking in a place.
  • “The man is of no use to us.  We might use the girl…”

The Ugly:

  • “Scully tell me you have a plan.  I want to hear it.  I bet it’s good.”  “Sorry.  I’m so very sorry Wynn.”

 

Winter World #2 is for mature readers due to violence.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Duane Swierczynski and a Dynamite “Ex-Con”

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Hearing that  Duane Swierczynski is writing an new series called Ex-Con for Dynamite Crime had me smiling enough to star in one of those many “happier than“ Geico commercials.

I’ve been a Duane Swierczynski fan since I first read The Wheelman almost seven years ago.  Since then I’ve read and enjoyed every one of Swierczynski’s crime novels.  Ex-Con sounds like a winner.  Here’s how Swierczynski describes it…

As the name implies, we’re going to be following a jailbird freshly sprung from San Quentin after five brutal years… This is a high-level con artist who thought he could out-think the cops, his marks, his competitors — pretty much everybody — and five years later, he’s still reeling.  To stay alive inside, he had to promise a favor to a convict who’s pretty much a living nightmare in a cage, and now that our man is out, he dreads having to pay up…

With Swierczynski writing and Tim Bradstreet providing the covers, the only thing left to take this series to the top is the right interior artist.  Unfortunately, one hasn’t been chosen yet.

Two artists that came to mind for something like this are Phil Hester and Cully Hamner.  I have no idea if Hester or Hamner would be considered or if they would want to do the series, but from this fan’s perspective, they were the first two artists that I thought of.

Thanks and an early parole to Comicosity and CBR.com for droppin’ a dime.

[And if you’re looking for a great crime comic to read NOW, you can’t do better than the FREE webcomic Gravedigger by Christopher Mills and Rick Burchett.]

Heroes Con 07 Report

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Heroes Con 2007 was a blast. Rather than go into a lengthy con report, I thought I’d post up some pictures and my thoughts. Hope you enjoy them half as much as I did the show…

This is the crew that I hung with for most of the weekend. Starting at the left and working around the table, my oldest son Mike, “The James”, Raf Kayanan, John Beatty, Andrew Robinson, Matt, Lazenby and Hal. Getting together with these guys is always a blast. Raf, Beatty and Andrew were set up at the con next to each other [Bob McLeod, Derec Donovan and John Dell were also within reach] so it was a pretty hopping spot. Originally Dave Johnson was supposed to be set up in the same area, but unfortunately he couldn’t make it this year.

That’s Matt Fraction pictured above. He’s about to autograph my copy of Last of the Independents which I highly recommend! It was my first time meeting Matt who also writes the popular Casanova comic series.

Rick Remender not only autographed my Doll and Creature graphic novel [review coming soon], but did an amazing piece for my Stallone gallery. I’ll post it once it’s scanned. Rick said that The Last Days of American Crime is in the works. I can’t wait. Rick has so many irons in the fire with Fear Agent, Sea of Red, Strange Girl and more that I was starting to think that he’d never get to it.

Another first was meeting Kyle Baker. I’m a huge fan of Kyle’s work. You Are Here is one of my all time favorite graphic novels. Kyle signed mine and told me his an idea for a sequel. I truly hope that someday he’s able to do it. I also picked up Kyle Baker Cartoonist Volume 1 & Volume 2 and Nat Turner Volume 1 & Volume 2. I was also lucky enough to get a Rocky sketch from Kyle [which I’ll post later]. Kyle Baker is an amazing talent and it was a pleasure meeting him.

One of the best parts of each Heroes Convention is watching artists create pieces for the auction. That’s Craig Hamilton working on his “300” piece. Craig’s an amazing artist who puts some much thought into everything he does. One of the cool things about Craig’s painting is that it works both horizontally [as seen above] or vertically! Tony Harris worked on a wicked “Phantom of the Opera” piece, while Phil Noto brought Batman, Batgirl and Catwoman together as Andrew Robinson started “After the Parade” .

That’s Gus Vasquez and his lil cousin Rosario Dawson. [Yeah, Rosario Dawson as in “Sin City”, “Grindhouse”, “Clerks 2”, and a whole lot more!] Rosario and Gus were back as special guests of the show and also the auctioneers! They did a great job and a new record was set when Adam Hughes’ Star Wars painting topped out at $5K!


It was so cool just to spend the weekend among friends, many of whom happen to be talented artists. Andrew Robinson definitely falls into both categories. The drawing above and this one are just two pieces that Andrew had created for his latest sketchbook. I was also lucky to see an advance copy of Andrew’s new art book that will be coming from Alberto Ruiz’s Brandstudio Press. Andrew’s book is going to be a hot seller and I can’t wait to get my copy!

Raf and Alberto spoke and Raf may have an “art of” book coming soon. I can’t believe I didn’t get any pictures of any of the sketches Raf produced. I was just too in awe of his work since it had been so many years since I’d been able to sit and watch him draw. I did get this shot and this one of two Punisher sketches that Beatty worked up for some lucky fans.

I guess I was just too busy actually talking to friends [Gary McKee, Jason Walker, and Eric Layton to name just three] and saying “hi” to artists [Jeff Parker, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner, Adam & Alison, Casey Jones, Cliff Chang, Tommy Lee Edwards and so many others] that I didn’t take many pictures. I promise I’ll do better next year… but please understand, no one does it as well as Pat Sun.

I was able to get some great additions to for my Stallone sketch collection. That’s Mike Wieringo pictured above. Mike’s blog is regular reading for me, not only because of his great sketches, but because of his thoughts about each sketch. When I contacted him about a Rocky sketch he posted after seeing “Rocky Balboa”, he said I could pick it up at Heroes. Mike was also selling a sketchbook and with each book purchased fans got a free sketch. Talk about a great deal! I picked up a sketchbook and got Mike’s take on Jack Carter as a bonus. [I’ll post it soon.]In addition to the two sketches I got from Mike Wieringo, I also was able to get one each from Rick Remender and Kyle Baker. Andrew Robinson did a cool Rocky for me before arriving at the show. So did Andy Smith. Megan Ruiz [Alberto’s daughter — a true prodigy] came through with Rambo. I also was able to get on Robin Mitchell’s sketch list and come home with The Art of Robin Mitchell, Volume 1 and his take on Cosmo Carboni from Paradise Alley. I’ll post all of these sketches once I get them scanned.

If you’ve made it with me this far, then you know a good time was had by all. Thank you and good night!

A Hamner Trifecta

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Today’s comic book cover features the work of one of my favorite comic artists, Cully Hamner.

Probably best known for his excellent work on the Batman miniseries Tenses, my personal favorite Hamner artwork can be found in the Red miniseries that he did with writer Warren Ellis.

I absolutely loved Red… so much so, that I’m going to give you a look at the covers for each of the three issues [ 1, 2, 3].

Heroes Over Wizards

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As regular ZONErs know, it’s become a Zablo family tradition to attend the annual Heroes Convention in Charlotte. I start talking up the show each year as the date for the convention gets closer and new guests are announced. Usually my hype begins about six months before the show.

This year I’m starting a bit early.

Like NOW.

WizardWorld [a big company that puts on conventions all over the US] has purposely scheduled their convention in Atlanta the
same weekend as Heroes.

Coincidence you say? Nope.

You see, Shelton has made it an annual tradition to announce his next convention date a year in advance [and his show has always been held in mid to late June].

This year, because there were rumors that Wizard was looking at Atlanta, Shelton wrote them to find out the date that they were looking at. Shelton even offered to support their show as long as their schedules didn’t fall on the same weekend.

You can imagine everyone’s surprise when Wizard announced that their Atlanta convention would fall on the same weekend as Heroes. You can read the details here and here.

Well, I’m happy to say that pros and fans have rallied around Shelton‘s show. Casey Jones, Tony Harris, Bryan Hitch, Greg Rucka, Joe Pruett, J. Michael Straczynski, Cliff Chiang, Mark Bagley and Ethan Van Sciver all quickly announced that they’d be at HEROES and NOT the Atlanta convention next year. Additionally, Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze and Karl Story who live in Atlanta have announced that they will be at Heroes as well!

Heroes 2006 may end up being the best Heroes ever. My hope is that the folks running the Wizard show will reconsider and reschedule. They’ve already started a bit of backtracking…

At any rate, if Wizard changes their date or not, I’ll be at Heroes in ’06.

Hopefully you will too!

Heroes Con 2005 Report

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Mike and I arrive in Charlotte at a little after 7PM on Thursday. While checking in to the Weston we see Hal, Matt and Kwan from the Comic Art List. Brian Stelfreeze and Cully Hamner are also in the lobby.

I call James “The James” Howell and he tells me he’ll arrive at the hotel in a few minutes. Mike and I put our things in our room. We freshen up a bit and head back down to the lobby. It’s been about 10 minutes and still no “The James.” Matt, Hal, Mike and I head back up to my room to wait for “The James” to arrive.

Matt remembered to bring me a Stallone piece that Steve McNiven did for me at MegaCon after I left. Heroes hasn’t even started and I already have a new addition to my gallery! ; ) “The James” arrives and so we head down to the lobby.

As we’re all getting ready to go out for dinner, “The James” says, “Have you all seen Batman Begins? Wasn’t it great?” Everyone has seen it and agrees… except for me.

I say that I liked the movie, but had a few problems with it. “The James” gives me a look like I just threw up in his cereal [he’s the king of giving people looks]. “What problems did you have?” he asks. So I begin to lay out a few of them. With each one “The James” looks pained and then gives me a rationalization.

As we’re walking, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully and their crew appear. We all say, “Hi” and stop to talk for a minute. Brian then says, “Have you all seen Batman Begins? Wasn’t it great?” [“The James” gives me a smug smile.] Everyone nods and says, “yeah”… everyone except for me. I say, “I liked it, but had some problems with it.” Since we’re all going out in different directions, I say that I’ll talk to him about it later.

We head over to dinner, and all through the course of the meal the discussion is Batman Begins. Everyone but “The James” agrees that I’ve brought up some valid concerns. “The James” just doesn’t see it. He’s like Tom Cruise talking about Katie Holmes when it comes to Batman Returns. We all head back to the hotel and end up talking art, comics, movies and playing a movie trivia game. “The James” is nearly unbeatable.

The next morning, I’m up early. Mike is sleeping in and coming over after the show starts, but since I’ve scored a special guest pass via John Higashi [who is arriving on Saturday], I can get in early. “The James” and I meet in the lobby and decide to pass on the $16 breakfast buffet and go for the $2.75 bagel. We hang out in the lobby and talk to different folks as they pass through. Rico comes by looking for some dish soap to wash his baby’s bottle. Casey Jones passes through and says that he’s going to have a Stallone piece for me by the end of this show! Matt and Hal come down.

Brian Stelfreeze and Cully come through. Someone brings up Batman Begins [it wasn’t me, I promise]. I tell Brian some of my concerns.  He listens and says, “You know, you’re right. I hadn’t thought of that!”  [I give “The James” a smug smile.] I say, “Overall I liked it though and expect the sequel to be even better.”

We all head over to the show. I get in James Jean’s line for Paul Singh who can’t make the show. Man, it seems that everyone wants something from James Jean. I give him Paul‘s reference and money for Paul and say that John Higashi will take the art back with him.

I stop by and say, “Hi” to Adam and Alison. I get on Rick Leonardi’s list. He says he’s going to draw Rambo. I look for Nat Jones who hasn’t arrived yet. I talk with Mike Ploog and lay the groundwork for John Higashi to get a take home commission. I get on Cliff Chiang‘s list.

I spend a lot of the day hanging out with the guys from Tsunami Studios: Gary McKee, Jason Walker, Mike Torrence and Brian Walker. I set up a watercolor Stallone piece from Gary and Jason and I agree to a future Stallone piece. I check back on Nat Jones throughout the day, but he looks to be a no show… as does Craig Hamilton.

Dinner that night is at Uno’s. There are 14 of us so we get two tables. The place is packed, but we get seated pretty quickly. I’m at the quiet table [yeah, Gary McKee is at the other one and no Beatty this year].

After dinner we head up to the Tsunami Studios room. Brian Walker gifts me a Stallone piece that he did!  We’re all laughing and talking junk when some of us discover that two of the people sitting at Gary’s table for dinner, work in the porn industry! Gary is also shocked and we’re all laughing because he didn’t know that when he shared his beef tips with the woman. Gary gets all flustered which makes everyone laugh harder.

The next morning I am awakened at 6AM by a phone call from John Higashi. He’s driven through the night [on 2 hours of sleep after a full day of work] and is ready for some breakfast. I get cleaned up and head down. John arrives and we find a Burger King for some “nourishment.” As we’re eating John maps out his strategy. He’s a day late [but NOT a dollar behind] and he writes down names and locations of artists on his “hit list.” Military invasions have been planned with less strategy and I know that Higashi is on a mission.

The show opens and I discover that Higashi hit the ground running. Literally. And carrying several bags of art. Higashi is already on several artists’ lists and he’s also picking up commissions and pages that he worked deals on before the show even started!

I see Rick Leonardi who has completed my Rambo piece! Cool! Very cool!

I meet Howard Chaykin. He is one of my comic idols. If Howard writes or draws it, I’ll buy it. Meeting Chaykin is so cool. He tells me about a new comic that he has coming out. It’s in the tradition of Peckinpaugh. It’s called Generations and sounds awesome. Chaykin also tells me about a noir comic that he’d like to do, but so far he hasn’t found a publisher. It’s a very and dark realistic story. I hope that it finds a home. Chaykin says that he’s doing head sketches for ACTOR, but we’d be better off with a home commission. I decide to wait and see if I can work out something later. Meeting Howard Chaykin has been a highlight of ANY convention I’ve ever been to.

Nat Jones arrives! I head over and talk to him. Nat says that he usually doesn’t sketch at shows, but because he knows I am a fan of his work [and maybe because it’s obvious that the piece won’t end up on ebay], and because my theme is different, he agrees to a sketch! Yeah, baby. I pick up the sketch later in the afternoon and love it. Cobra by Nat Jones.

I get word that Craig Hamilton has arrived. “The James” and I head over to his table. Craig has a piece that he completed for “The James.” It’s Snow and Big Bad Wolf and it is sooo sweet. I set up a commission with Craig, who decides to do it as a take home piece since he couldn’t get to me last year at Heroes. Craig promises it will be really nice. How could it not be, since Craig is doing it?


Gary McKee has been working all day on my Stallone watercolor piece. He opted to do Sly as The Punisher. It was cool seeing Gary work on it from concept sketch to finished piece. And I agree with Gary, Sly would have made an excellent Punisher.

I see a lot of friends including Tim Gordon [from The Tampa Comic and Toy Convention], Robert Jewell, and others. Richard “Jaws” Kiel is there. I guess it goes without saying, that he’s HUGE. As the show winds down for day two, we head back to the hotel for the Art Auction. The room is packed. Higashi bids on a few items and wins one. After the auction, Mike and I decide on pizza in the room. Normally we’d hang out with the guys again, but tonight we opt to play some poker [for fun] and watch “Tombstone.” Man, Val Kilmer owns that movie. He should have won an Oscar!!

The next morning, we check out of the room and head over to the last day of the show. The group immediately gets in Mike Ploog‘s line. Mike‘s old school. I grew up on his “Werewolf by Night,” “Frankenstein” and work for Warren. Mr. Ploog is [and has been since the con opened] drawing FREE headshots for fans. Up to this point, I’ve never asked an artist to draw Stallone when they’re sketching for free. It’s one thing to whip out Batman or Spider-Man or a character that they’ve probably drawn dozens of times. It’s a whole different can of worms to ask them to draw a real person. But this is Mike Ploog!! I decide to ask him to draw Jack Carter and I use Brian Stelfreeze‘s piece as reference. When it’s my turn, I hand over my sketchbook and reference and Mike draws me a nice little Stallone headshot! Whoo-hooo! I have Mike Ploog in my Stallone Gallery!

I check in with Casey Jones and he’s done me a great, great piece. It’s Sly from Oscar and the design on the sketch is awesome.  Casey, you are the MAN!!!

Cliff Chiang has completed his Stallone piece. It’s a really sweet piece of Rocky and Adrian. Cliff has really captured the essence of both of these characters. I absolutely love it!

Heroes has once again been a great show. I was able to hang out with my son and friends, meet artists who’ve I’ve admired and even get new artwork for my Stallone Gallery. I should have better pictures of the artists and scans of my new pieces posted within the next week.

I’m already looking forward to next year to do it all again!

Heroes Con 2004 Report

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Shelton Drum‘s Heroes Con 2004 was a blast.  I arrived at the Westin, [truly one of the finest and most reasonably priced hotels anywhere thanks to the Heroes Con rate] at 10:30AM on Friday. The show opened at 11 and I was anxious to get in.

 

As we were unloading the car I saw Cully Hamner and Casey Jones who were also getting ready to head over.

Big John Beatty was able to get me a guest pass since I was helping him with his art and thanks to Shelton, my son, Mike and I were able to get right in. John‘s table was next to tables occupied by Craig Hamilton, Neil Vokes, Michael Avon Oeming, Arron Lopestri and Andy Smith. We were in good company.

 

Mike and I took a quick trip around the con to get our bearings and ran into several fans including Steven Lee [who was wearing a StalloneZone t-shirt! Thanks Steven!], James Howell, Hal, Robert Jewell, Kwan, The ComicDude and others. I saw that Tony Harris was setting up and took him a StalloneZone shirt since I ran out before he completed my sketch at AtlantaCon. Gus Vasquez told me that he’d have my Stallone piece on Saturday.

I then made my way to Jason Pearson‘s table. Only two other people were ahead of me so I felt pretty confident that I’d get a sketch if Jason didn’t mind drawing Stallone. Jason was running late, but luckily “The Big Man” had his portable dvd player and entertained us with a history channel dvd on comics. Jason arrived and when it was my turn I asked him about doing a Stallone piece. Jason said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses, but I explained that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He said he’d give it a try and that I should bring back my reference material at the end of the day since he wanted to work on it in his hotel room. Cool!

Next was Michael Avon Oeming‘s table. I picked up his sketchbook [a bargain at five bucks]. Michael had already turned out a couple of cool sketches and I asked if I could get on his list. He said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses [where had I heard that before?] and I told him that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He looked at my portfolio of Stallone sketches and said he’d like to give “Nighthawks” a shot and that I should check back in an hour or so.

Then it was back to Beatty‘s table where he was working on a Punisher commission. Craig Hamilton had arrived with his lovely lady,and he was sketching. Craig‘s amazing. Not only is he a super talented artist, but he puts a lot of thought into his work. For each of his convention sketches Craig draws roughs and really thinks about the character. Not just what the character looks like or what kind of costume he/she wears, but how they would sit or stand and what kind of attitude they would project. I loved hearing Craig talk to fans and having the opportunity to watch him sketch all weekend. Craig has a broad knowledge and appreciation for all types of art. You just know I had to ask to get on his list! Craig said that he’d like to draw Sly from “Oscar” since he has a real affinity for the time period [and he really liked the movie]!

As Friday was winding down I picked up my sketch from Michael Avon Oeming who did a great job [and I think that it does look like Sly] and dropped off my reference material for Jason Pearson.

Several of us, actually about 20, had decided to walk over to Uno’s for dinner. My wife and two sons, Big Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Robert Jewell, Gary McGee, Jason WalkerGary and Big Beatty… and believe it or not Gary was wilder. It was about 10:30 when we finished up with dinner so it was back to the hotel for a little visiting and then to the room for some sleep. and others made the trip. Because our group was so large it took a while for them to get us in and even then we were split into two groups. And of course my group was the rowdy one thanks to

As the con was gettting ready to open on Saturday I found myself in line for some breakfast at the concession stand with Michael Avon Oeming. He said that he met several StalloneZone fans on Friday [they saw him working on the Sly sketch]. Michael offered to buy me breakfast! I thanked him, and instead offered to buy his breakfast! As it ended up, we both bought our own eats, but what a cool guy. I’d heard good things about Michael and he lived up to his rep of being “one of the good guys.”

I spent Saturday alternating between Beatty‘s table and walking around the show to talk to fans and pros. I was able to spend a bit of time with or at least say hi to Kelsey Shannon [Beatty‘s son!], Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze, Jeff Parker, Adam Hughes and Allison Sohn, Phil Noto, Tony Harris, Eric Powell, Casey Jones, Tommy Lee Edwards and so many others.

Gus Vasquez was able to get me my sketch before he had to fly out to the set of Sin City! He gave me two characters [Rocky nailing Clubber Lang] and it was definitely worth the wait

Neil Vokes and I had fun conversations about movies [horror flicks, re-makes, B-movies], comics, and more. Neil is a cool guy and I had a blast hanging with him. Neil’s project The Wicked West has the tagline “What would happen if Josey Wales rode into Salem’s Lot”… it’s a great concept and the art is right on. It’s going to rock! In the meantime you might want to check out Neil’s Parliment of Justice [with Michael Avon Oeming] or Black Forest. It was also cool to see Neil‘s apppreciation for other artists. Neil keeps a sketchbook and was excited when Eric Powell contributed a killer piece! [Michael Oeming also keeps a Lord of the Rings sketchbook from other artists!]

I checked in with Jason Pearson. He had sketched out my Stallone piece and had decided to do Rocky hitting the meat. It was looking great. The big beefy Rocky punching the beef! LOL!

Dinner Saturday night was at Fuel for some pizza or subs. This time it was Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Hal and others. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so in the lobby talking with fans and pros. Then a bunch of us headed up to James and Hal‘s room to look at their portfolios and latest acquisitions.

On Sunday Jason had my Stallone piece ready. Several people came up to me and told me it was done and looked great. When I picked it up I saw that they were right. Jason Pearson is such a talented guy.

Craig Hamilton was not going to be able to get to my piece before the end of the show. He offered to do a take home piece but part of the joy of Craig‘s work is watching his process so I decided to wait… I may be able to up to DragonCon later this year.

As you can see from this picture Craig and Big Beatty hit it off pretty well!

I had been by Tommy Lee Edwards‘ table. He was doing some really cool sketches and I hoped that I’d be able to get on his list. Luckily he could fit me in. Tommy and I talked about which character he would do… he wasn’t sure and so I suggested Jack Carter if he couldn’t decide on one. I went back to Beatty’s table and told him I had the hook-up with Tommy.

Beatty was stoked. He’s a big Tommy Lee fan and so we walked over. It turns out that Tommy likes Beatty‘s work as well. We all talked for a bit and then Tommy said I should check back in a little while. When I did, I found that Tommy had started to do Deke from “Nighthawks” but then remembered that I suggested Jack Carter and so he changed it to Carter. Man, I can’t tell you how much I love this piece. The energy and colors and… just look at it! Beautiful!

The auction was a lot of fun. So many artists donated work to help support the con. Some of the highlights included Phil Noto‘s painting of “The Bride” from “Kill Bill,” Brian Stelfreeze‘s painting of Mary Jane, Mike Wieringo‘s huge Fantastic Four piece, Craig Hamilton‘s Fairey [done in crayon — you’d have to see it to belive how nice it was!], Alison Sohn‘s Harliquinn, and many others.

Believe it or not Big Beatty was even recruited to serve as one of the auctioneers with Tim Townsend!

As you can probably tell, if you’ve read this far, it was another great show.  We make Heroes Con part of our annua; family vacation — it’s that much fun. If you haven’t ever attended you should give it some thought. Next year Heroes will be on June 24-26, 2005.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

AtlantaCon 2004 Report

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Last week Mike [my oldest son], John Beatty [my oldest buddy] and I drove up for AtlantaCon 2004. The con didn’t officially start until Saturday, but we decided to go up on Friday so we would be fresh in the morning when things kicked off.

Actually it was good that we went up on Friday since the con organizers set up a pre-show sketch session. For a $25 donation [which went to Jeff Jones] you could mingle with the artists who were doing really nice head sketches and more. Artists sketching included Phil Noto, Mike Kaluata, Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, and many others. I’ve got to make special mention of a cool sketch “combo.” Georges did a nice head shot of “Captain America looking up into the distance” for one of the fans. Later the same fan returned. Adam Hughes had added a headshot of Bucky looking up in the same direction as Cap with the caption, “Uh, Cap… what are we looking at?” That just cracked me [and everyone else at the table] up.

Mike was making the rounds getting Hellboy sketches while I sat at a table with Big Beatty and Phil Noto who were both sketching. As the sun went down Phil moved to a better light source and his seat was taken by a rotating crew which included Kelsey Shannon, James Howell and others. The table got kind of rowdy as people came up asking Big Beatty for sketches and he determined whether or not it was for a “fetish collection.” It was really cool talking movies and comics and “stuff” with everyone at the table or passing by. A guy named “Little John” was gettting sketches and said that he checks out The StalloneZone and ZONE on a regular basis. How cool is that?

The session was supposed to end at 10:00 but went on until 11:00. The artists were really giving the fans their money’s worth. Special thanks to the Gaijin folks who didn’t even get to sit and eat a proper dinner before they were swamped by fans wanting sketches!

The next morning Mike, Beatty, and I met James Howell at the Waffle House for a hearty breakfast. Then it was off to the con! As we were walking in we saw John Higashi and Steven Lee arriving. Higashi was sporting his StalloneZone shirt!

Beatty and I went up to get our passes. Adam Hughes was there to get his as well. The guy giving out the passes asked Adam if he was an artist! Adam patiently said he was and proceeded to spell his name. No passes. The guy looked in a couple of different places. Still no passes. As Adam looked around for someone he knew [or at least knew him] I asked if the passes might be under Gaijin Studio. Adam asked the man and sure enough, they were. Adam then asked if there was a pass for Allison. Nope, but the man quickly made her one. Beatty and I picked up our passes and followed Adam into the show.

The artists were starting to set up. Most dealers were ready to go and fans were lined up waiting to get in. After a bit of looking Beatty found his table. Mike and I decided to check the place out. My goal was to get Stallone pieces from Jason Pearson, Tony Harris, and Brian Stelfreeze. Anything else would be gravy. A quick circuit of the con and I was able to learn that Jason Pearson had to cancel, Brian Bolland was running a few hours late [due to a flight problem], and other artists were just rolling in. A line was starting to form for Brian Bolland. I got in along with John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell and a few others.

I saw Tony Harris starting to set up the Jolly Roger display. The guys said they’d hold my spot so I could go down. There was already one guy in line and knowing that Tony is very slow I decided to take them up on their offer. I was there at #2. [Last year at Heroes I just missed getting my first Harris sketch — I was next on the list when Tony had to stop sketching so he could get ready for the charity painting session — and I didn’t want to face the same thing again.] Steven Lee was behind me. Things were looking good for both of us. When it was my turn to make a request I told Tony I wanted a Stallone piece. He remembered me from last year. Tony said he’d give it a shot.

Then it was over to the Gaijin booth. The whole gang was there Adam and Allison, Cully, Karl, Brian and Kelsey [who was wearing his StalloneZone shirt!]. Phil Noto was sketching there as well. Several fans were oogling a Brian Stelfreeze painting which was a beaut! I asked Brian if he had started a list and he hadn’t. I was first! When I told Brian I wanted him to do a Stallone piece he called out to Cully [who was sitting further down the way], “Hey Cully! I’m being called up to the big leagues!” LOL! Brian said he wanted to give Jack Carter a shot! Cool by me, as that would have been my choice for him as well.

As I walked the convention I met up with fans that I usually only get to “talk” to via e-mail like Terry webmaster of ComicArt Community, Benno, Rich DeDominicis, Ken Danker of Monster Collectables and Scott Blacksher.

Scott Blacksher has a really cool “Astro-Zombies” Theme. We’ve exchanged a few e-mails over the past year. Scott came by the table and commissioned Beatty to do him an Astro-Zombie sketch.

I could tell that Beatty wasn’t feeling well [too much junk food on the ride up is our guess] but before the sketch was done, I thought that he’d recovered. John didn’t think so. He told Scott that he was sorry that the sketch wasn’t better and he could have it for free.

Scott was really surprised and said the sketch was fine, but Beatty refused to take any money and even said he’d try to come up with a better piece sometime in the future. Scott thanked Beatty and said that he had an autographed copy of “Mark of the Astro-Zombies” that Beatty could have. Big John passed the tape on to me since he knows that I’ve been wanting to see the movie and I’ll get to it before he ever does!

Finally Brian Bolland arrived! By this time Brian had a huge line of people waiting. With almost no time to even catch his breath, Brian began to take time with each fan. Some only wanted a chance to thank Brian for the wonderful work that he’s produced [and continues to produce]. Others were hoping for a sketch or even an opportunity to buy one of his prelims. When it was my time with Brian, I thanked him for providing me with many hours of pleasure, asked if he would autograph a book for a friend and pose for a picture with me. Brian was gracious and modest. He was a true pleasure to meet and I hope that he enjoyed meeting his fans as much as they enjoyed meeting him!

It was cool catching up with some artists that I hadn’t seen in a while. Dan Bereton and his lovely lady were there leading the celebration of the tenth anniversary of The Nocturnals. Eddie Powell and his wife had some really cool Goon t-shirts [James Howell got the last 2XL before me!], sketchbooks, and more. Gus Vasquez was there and promised to have my Stallone commission ready at Heroes. Gus said he’d do it that weekend, but I want him to take the time he’d like to do it “up right.”

Speaking of doing it up right, Sanford Greene has been turning out some great stuff lately. Sanford was sketching away, but did take some time to show us the latest book he’s putting together. It’s got a really hip look and should be a lot of fun once he gets it rolling. LeSean was also doing some work that really kicks butt. Hmmm… perhaps I’ll get them in the Stallone Gallery at some point. Andy Lee was there… and Jason Walker too!

I decided I would head over and see if Brian Stelfreeze had finished my Jack Carter commission. As I got closer to the Gaijin table, a couple of fans who know I collect Stallone pieces mentioned that they’d seen what Brian had done for me and that it totally kicked uh, butt. When I got there Brian was talking to another fan but I could see the completed piece! Man!! Brian had nailed it. His Jack Carter was one bad mofo. Going back to Brian‘s analogy of being called up to the “big leagues” — well, if that’s the case then Brian hit a grand slam the first time at bat. I couldn’t thank him enough for the piece. I did give him a StalloneZone t-shirt though.

I also gave shirts to Cully and Adam since they had completed Stallone sketches before I had the shirts and I didn’t want them to be left out. The cool thing is that some fans and pros are wearing the shirts to conventions [and not just to mow the grass]. At this point I’m totally out of shirts and I unfortunately ran out before getting one to Tony Harris [I thought we had put a couple back… but they got away].

Speaking of Tony Harris, I decided to check and see if he had finished my commission since Saturday was winding down. I was surprised to find that Tony hadn’t even finished the first sketch yet. Well… at least I was number 2 and Tony was confident that he’d be able to finish before we pulled out on Sunday at noon.

Rob Prior was set up doing some air brush paintings. Rob is quite an interesting guy. He’s worked in a number of artistic capactities in the comic and film industry. His most recent work has been on the Buffy, Angel, and Firefly TV shows. I’d heard that Rob was in the process of directing a movie called Shadowwalkers from a story that he’d created. Rob was nice enough to share the story and progress on getting the film made. If everything comes to pass we’re going to be in for a very cool couple of hours. The story is ripe for a multitude of venues from other movies to games to a tv series… but Rob is just concentrating on THIS movie now. Rob Prior‘s a guy to keep an eye on and I wish him continued success.

As the show was winding down Kelsey and I were laughing about the hacki-sack game that he got into at MegaCon. Before you could say hacki- Kelsey, Mike and Big Beatty started up a game. Soon Brian was involved… then Cully… and things were rockin’. I don’t know if watching Beatty keep missing with his kicks or Mike‘s doublekicks had us laughing more. The game was called when the janitors were ready to turn off the ligjhts. [At least it seemed that late!]

John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell, Jason Walker, Big Beatty, Mike, and I [along with another six or eight people] decided to have dinner at Road House. The meal lasted literally for over two hours as we all laughed and told “war stories” of conventions and art collecting. After everyone had ordered and some of us had even started to get our food the waitress came back to tell John Higashi that they were out of baked potatoes.

John was pretty disappointed, but not as disappointed as Big Beatty when he was told they were out of club sandwiches! Higashi opted for the onions [don’t ask]. Anyway… John‘s picking at his steak mumbling that he would have really liked his potatoe when the waitress brings out baked patatoes to others! Finally she comes back by [John‘s finished his steak by now] and she says, “Oh, we’ve got potatoes now.” John [looking sad] says, “No, that’s ok… I’m finished now.” “But sir, would you like your onions brought out?” John hung his head even lower and said, “No thanks. I’m finished.”

Now you might think that a man who was sad about not getting 1/3 of his meal would not be the target of teasing. But if you do think that way, then you don’t know Big Beatty. Beatty started in with riffs about Higashi being the infamous Johnny StarWarz [‘dat’s right StarWarz with a “Z”] and we were all off to the races. Before too long we had Johnny‘s “gang sign” [making a “J” and a “W” with the fingers on each hand], Johnny pimping out his rental car, making deals for commissions and then his homies bringing up “da cash,” Johnny wearing a Death Star medalian for his bling… and on and on and on.

When we finally left the restaurant it was after 10:30… and we were beat. So it was back to the hotel for a bit of sleep… The next morning Mike and I headed back to the Waffle House where we crossed paths with John Higashi, James Howell and Steven Lee. Then on to the convention.

Beatty and I were hanging at his table talking to the folks from Cute Girl Demographics who had the next table. Kelsey came by and hung out for a while. Ya just gotta love Kelsey [even if he did spill coffee on Mike]! After a bit I decided to go down and check on Tony Harris‘ progress. It’s always a good feeling to hear someone tell you how cool your piece is before you get to see it and that’s exactly what happened as I approached Tony‘s table.

Tony had really created a beautiful piece. This is the same guy who told me he had problems with doing a likeness! Man, his Stallone is dead on. Tony always turns out a great sketch and this one was exceptional. Big Beatty thinks it’s the best in my collection. And getting any compliment from Beatty is as rare as Higashi getting a baked potato at Road House.

I couldn’t belive my luck. I was able to get both Brian Stelfreeze and Tony Harris to do Stallone pieces for me… and they both nailed him. Life is good!

As much as I wanted to stay, I knew that we needed to head back to Daytona since we all had work or school the next day. [And in my case I had both since I’m a middle school administrator.] We made a final pass of the convention floor and said our good byes.

We’d had a great time… and are already counting the days untl Heroes!

MegaCon 2004 Report

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When I said I’d be gone for a few days, I had no idea it would be over a week before I got back to updating the ZONE.

MegaCon was a great show. Big Beatty was sharing a table with Casey Jones [who does some of the best con sketches around]. Bob McLeod was just around the corner. I hadn’t seen Bob in probably 15 years… but boy, did the memories come flooding back. Bob, Beatty and I talked about all of the conventions we used to travel to, as well as the poker and pool we used to play. Bob sketched almost nonstop the entire show. The fans love them some Bob McLeod. And rightly so.

I ran into fellow fans and art collectors John “Johnny StarWars” Higashi [who wore his StalloneZone t-shirt] and James “The James” Howell. They were planing their strategies for the show. These are two of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. Before the weekend was over John Higashi was one of the seven people from the entire show to win an opportunity to purchase a sketch from Walt Simonson. [And what a sweet one it turned out to be.] I hope to get to spend more time with them in Atlanta.

Michael Lark sketched away all weekend long. I picked up two pieces from Michael. It was funny because when I expained my Stallone theme to him, I said, “So you can draw any Stallone character you want.” Michael said, “Great I know who I want to do.” I said that I would check back with him in a bit and as I started to walk away asked, “Who are you going to draw?” “Mickey,” Michael said with a smile. “Uh, you are going to draw Rocky and Mickey, right?” Michael laughed and said, “Oh, I see. When you said a Stallone character, you meant a character that Stallone played, not just any character from his movies.” Whew! Had we not cleared that up, I would have come back to find a very nice drawing of Mickey! As it turned out Michael did a scene from Rocky with Mickey, Rocky, and his cut man… you know the scene… “Cut me, Mick!” Michael was selling a really nice sketchbook as well, so I picked up one for me and another for a friend.

James O’Barr was there. I had initially hoped to get a Stallone sketch from him. That didn’t work out, but I did get James to autograph my copy of The Crow trade paperback. Maybe I’ll get the chance at another show.

Koi Phan was sketching away. I’ve been a fan of Koi’s since I first saw his sketches popping up on the internet. I went over and introdced myself. Koi not only remembered my name but said, “You’re the reason I came to MegaCon!” I had written him a couple of months ago asking if he was coming to MegaCon. I told him a bit about the show and that I hoped he could make it. He had no plans to, but decided to check it out on my suggestion. And that he remembered my name. How cool is that? I picked up a Stallone sketch for myself and a Batman for my oldest son’s collection. Koi does great work. Check out his site and I’m sure you’ll agree.

Walt Simonson came stopped by the table and I was able to get him to re-autograph my Alien and Manhunter trade paperbacks. He had first autographed them over 20 years ago! Walt is a really cool guy. He has an Elric series coming out later this year and the advance art looked awesome. A Stallone by Walt would be sweet…

Kelsey Shannon came by the table. Kelsey is flat out the man. Some kids were playing hack-sack near the table. I jokingly asked Kelsey if he wanted to join in and he replied, “I do know how to play.” That’s all I needed to hear and I had Kelsey in the game in no time at all. The funny thing is… Kelsey really knew how to play! Add THAT to his list of accomplishments… amazing artist, able to eat a block of cheese in an hour, and competitive hacki-sacker. Kelsey did a drop dead gorgeous Sly sketch for me. Big Beatty is going to ink it on blue-line so I’ll be able to retain the original pencils.

I ran into Cully Hamner on the way to the restroom. We had some small talk and he said he would be up for another Stallone. It’s going to be hard to top his first one, but I hope that he tries either at Atlanta or Heroes con later this year. Cully went to the restroom to get a stain off his shirt. As we were walking out of the restroom, I told him about “Shout” wipes. They’ll get out almost any stain and I try to always keep some at work. Cully said he’d check into them. Cully said, “Hey thanks for the tip.” He immediately followed that up with, “I guess I shouldn’t say that as we’re leaving the restroom!”

The Gaijin crew were busy all weekend. It was cool to meet Alison and to see Adam again. Since I got my Adam Hughes sketch, I haven’t tried for another, hoping that some lucky soul will be able to get his/her first… but I have to tell you, seeing the beautiful work that Adam does, I’m always tempted to get in line! Cully, and Kelsey and Brian and Karl were also very busy. I hope to get Brian to do a Stallone for me at Atlanta or Heroes this year. That would kick butt. Kelsey wore his StalloneZone shirt while he was sketching… talk about cool! Also, Gaijin had advance materials on The Ride on display. This book looks to be a winner. Tell your comic dealer to order you one or you may get left out.

Alex Saviuk stopped by the table for a few minutes and we talked about the life of a freelancer. He had me laughing because freelancers face the situation of not enough work or too much work due at the same time. Never a happy medium.

Phil Noto came by the table and when Big Beatty asked him how he was doing Phil said, “Great. I sold EVERYTHING.” This was on Saturday… with another day still to go! Phil and I discussed a Stallone sketch and Phil said he could have it to me on Sunday. We talked about either something from Nighthawks, which Phil really likes, or an “old school” Rocky. Phil decided to go with Deke DaSilva from Nighthawks and it is a beaut. I still hope to get a Rocky and Adrian from him in the future.

Wild Bill Black was there. Bill and I did a few circuits of the convention during the 3 days we were there. Bill presented me with the latest issue of FemForce [124] which features a backup story by Nick Northy and Jeff Austin. And one of the “stars” of the stroy… Detective Zablo! I’ll post more about that later this week. Mark and Stephanie Heike were there. Each time I passed them I’d trade them some cinnamon hard candy for some sour candy. Billy “The Playa from the Himalaya” Marimon was there. Rik Levins showed up. And it was great seeing both of them.

Tim Townsend made an appearance to drop off flyers for his Tim-O-Palooza. Tim hosts a party each year during the weekend of MegaCon. Tim had never met Bob McLeod and so I walked over with him. Bob had made some really nice comments about Tim‘s work the day before and so it was really cool to see two pros who appreciate each other’s work get a chance to meet for the first time. Beatty and I had intended to make it to Tim‘s party — we had the invite – – but after a trolly ride from hell at the end of a long day, we decided against the journey. Maybe next year…

Meanwhile back a John‘s table, he was sketching away. John had brought his markers and colors and was giving the fans more than their money’s worth! He did the best con sketches I have ever seen him turn out and he was diggin it. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the fans in Atlanta and Charlotte this year!

The capper to the show was dinner with Big Beatty and Brad Vancata. Then it was back home to catch up on all the work that didn’t get done that long weekend. I’m almost caught up. I should be completely caught up in time to leave for AtlantaCon next month! [Actually, by the end of the week I should have scans of all of my sketches posted!]

AtlantaCon 2003 Report, Part 2

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So where did we leave off? Oh yeah…

I’m at AtlantaCon with my son, Mike. I’ve picked up sketches from Jason Alexander, Andy Lee, and Cully Hamner. Adam Hughes will have my sketch ready on Sunday. Believe it or not the day gets even better!

How? Glad that you asked! Well, let me tell you…

AtlantaCon and Chud.com have teamed up to present a special screening of Equilibrium followed by a Q&A session with writer/director, Kurt Wimmer. Seating was limited, but I was able to get two tickets.

The only thing that I knew about the movie was that it starred Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, was scifi set in the future and received good word of mouth. I figured we’d be in for an entertaining evening even if the movie was just “ok.”

The screening was set for 7:30. Everyone was to get there by seven. Mike and I arrived at 6:40. A crowd was already forming. Mike and I ended up next to Nick from Chud. We had a nice conversation. I was pleased to learn that he knew of StalloneZone. He was also a Stallone fan. Nick said that we were in for a very cool film with Equilibrium.  It was a movie that he was really proud to help promote. I also spoke briefly with Jen who has set up a very nice Equilibrium fan site.

Soon it was time to go in. Mike and I took seats in the middle of the last row. People continued in and the theater was nearly full. Nick thanked us all for coming and that Kurt Wimmer had flown in from LA to attend the screening. Kurt had brought drinks and chips for the crowd!

As Mike went down to get a couple of sodas Cully Hamner, Phil Noto, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story came in.  They sat directly in front of us. When Mike came back and saw them sitting there a giant smile came across his face. [For those of you who aren’t comic fans, this would be like driving to a basketball convention and having Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and well, you get the idea, sitting in front of you.] Right before the movie started a gentleman and his young son took seats next to Mike.

The movie started.  It immediately took you to another place. It’s our world, but in the near future. The opening scene is so cool and so well done that I knew we were in for a ride. Then comes the action and – MAN – it is AWESOME! I loved Christian Bale‘s work in Shaft and Reign of Fire but Equilibrium shows that he is a star. Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Sean Bean are also excellent… but the real star of the show is Kurt Wimmer who wrote and directed it.

Kurt has also written other screenplays including The Recruit and The Thomas Crown Affair. After the movie ended Kurt Wimmer was introduced.  He went to the front of the auditorium for the Q&A session. It was the guy sitting next to Mike! Mike looked at me like he couldn’t believe it… watching the movie with the Gaijin guys and the director of the movie!

Kurt was really entertaining. He spent an hour answering questions about the film. After the Q&A ended a group of us [including Brian Stelfreeze] stood in the lobby discussing how cool the film was. The dvd will be out in May. My advice is to pre-order now. I think this baby is a sleeper.

Sunday arrived. The final day of the show. The main question on my mind: Would Adam Hughes be able to get to my sketch? As we walked in I heard John Higashi yelling, “Craig, come and see what Adam did for you!” Needless to say, I was excited. Adam had created a very, very cool drawing of Sly dressed for an audition as Superman. I absolutely love the idea and execution. Adam Hughes is da MAN! I got a picture of Adam holding the sketch and thanked him.

Phil Noto was setting up. I checked to see if he would be able to fit me in. Unfortunately Phil was booked solid. He said he would do something for me and asked if I would leave him my address. I did and offered to pay for the sketch in advance. Phil said we’d settle up once he was finished with it. Believe me, it will be worth the wait! [Next on my list will, hopefully, be Brian Stelfreeze!]

Mike and I then went over to see Dan Brereton. We discussed a Stallone sketch. Dan was leaning towards a Rocky, but as he looked through my reference book he mentioned that he really liked Nighthawks. Whatever he wanted to do was fine by me. He said to check back in a couple of hours.

Mike and decided to visit some artists one last time. Mike got a headshot of Batman by Phil Hester, a Batman by Dave Cook of Splatter Comix and a Batman by Tim Flanagan. Our final stop was with Jacen Burrows. Jacen was doing some really interesting sketches. Mike got one for his sketchbook. I asked Jacen if he’d be interested in doing a Sly drawing for me. He said he would, but that he’d want to do it at home. We agreed on a price and Jacen said he’d have it to me in about a month!

Mike and I then headed back over to Dan Brereton‘s table. The piece was finished. It was a knockout! Dan had opted to do Deke DaSilva from Nighthawks! I got a picture of Dan and his lovely lady, thanked him. It was time Mike and I got back on the road for home.

It was a great show. I’ll post pictures of the artists and their artwork later this week. Mike and I hope to return next year. Maybe we’ll see you there!

AtlantaCon 2003 Report

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AtlantaCon was this past weekend. My son [Mike] and I had a blast! It was my goal to try and get sketches from Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Dan Brereton, Phil Noto and whoever else the budget would allow.

The con was scheduled to open at 1PM Friday. We got to our hotel before 9AM. I was surprised that we could check in early. As we were completing the paperwork, Dan Brereton began to check in as well. We decided to wait until the con to say, “Hello.” As the elevator doors were closing to take us up to our room, Mike Kaluta came on board. He is always so friendly.

We decided to eat breakfast. Dan Brereton had the same idea, but since he was with a couple of friends we didn’t want to bother him. After breakfast, Mike and I headed over to the convention center. There were already people in line. The con wasn’t scheduled to open for another hour and a half!

I was talking to a couple of guys when I heard someone yelling, “Craig Zablo, you lied!” I looked up to see John Higashi coming down the escalator. “You said, you wouldn’t be here until Saturday!” John continued yelling. John is such a fun guy to be around. He collects Star Wars art and his collection is one of the best I’ve ever seen. He has art by almost everyone. Who else do you know that has several pieces from Drew Struzan? John came down and showed us all where the line would start so we could pick up our con passes, and then entertained us with pieces from his collection until it was time for him to go in. John had a lifetime membership to the show, which meant that he would be allowed in to the dealer’s room an hour before everyone else.

Once the lifetime members were allowed to enter, the regular paid attendees lined up at the door. Mike and I were fourth and fifth in line and so I felt my odds of an Adam Hughes sketch were pretty good. Cully Hamner had already put me on his list [thanks to an e-mail from Big Beatty — thanks, bro!] so Adam would be my first stop when the gates opened. From where we were standing, we could see the line for Adam was already nine deep and growing… The crowd was allowed to enter and I ended up 13th in line for an Adam Hughes sketch. When I spoke to Adam about what I wanted [a drawing of Sylvester Stallone], he liked the idea. I left him a book for reference and hustled over to see Cully.

Cully remembered me and we discussed what I wanted. I thought that Cully would do a very cool Jack Carter. Cully hadn’t seen the movie but I had reference. I explained that Carter was a Vegas enforcer, a low level mobster. Cully looked at the pictures and said, “nice suits, right?” Yep. Cully said to check back later in the day.

Mike was walking around checking out things. I caught up with him and we walked the convention center. Dan Brereton was setting up and I spoke to him about a commission. He said that he would definitely be interested. We agreed to hook up later in the show to work out the details. The first day wasn’t even half over and I had basically set up three commissions. I was loving life.

We walked around and spoke with Mike Kaluta, Andy Lee, Phil Hester, Jacen Burrows, Jason Alexander, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Shane Glines, Dean Motter, Bo Hampton, Alex Saviuk, and many others.

Jason Alexander‘s art is really cool. I spoke to him about a commission and he agreed to do a Rambo for my sketchbook. It turned out awesome. Watching Andy Lee paint was amazing. I spoke to him about a commission. We agreed on a Rambo. It also turned out great. I decided to check on the progress of Adam and Cully. Cully asked if it would be ok if he gave me the Jack Carter drawing in the morning which, of course, was no problem. Adam was still working on his first drawing. Gulp!

Saturday was the busiest day of the show. Kent Williams showed up [he shares a studio with Jason Alexander]. I told John Higashi that Kent was there [he wasn’t listed on the guest list]. John commissioned a really cool Star Wars piece! Mike spent the afternoon in a HeroClick‘s tournament. I walked around talking to more artist’s. Cully finished my Jack Carter piece. Whoa! I couldn’t be more thrilled with it! Adam said that he would have my piece for me on Sunday. Yes!

Believe it or not, the day was going to get even better…

[I’ll post the rest of my con report soon. Scans of my commissions and pictures from the con will also be posted soon.]

AtlantaCon 2003 Bound!

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On April 11- 13, I heading up to Georgia for the AtlantaCon Convention. The Guest of Honor is Mike Kaluta who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time over twenty years ago at an Atlanta convention! Mike is best known for his work on “The Shadow,” and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.

Dan Bereton is going to be a guest. I’ve loved his work since I saw the first preliminary piece for “The Black Terror” years ago. Dan has gone on to draw [and write] many other projects and I’ve followed them all. One of my favorites has been his work on The Nocturnals. It’d be cool to get a Stallone drawing by Dan.

I’m also excited because the guys from Gaijin Studios [Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, Brian Stelfreeze, and Karl Story] will be there sketching as well. As Stuttering John would say, “I’m a big fan, big fan.” I was hoping to get some Stallone sketches from them at MegaCon but I was only there for one day,and they were allready booked up. Thanks to Big Beatty, I’m on Cully‘s list for AtlantaCon and hope to get on Adam‘s and Brian‘s as well. At least that’s the plan.

Phil Noto is going to be there. His popularity has soared in recent years. Take a look at his art and you’ll know why. There’s going to be dozens of other artists on hand as well. Part of the fun of going to a convention is meet established pros, but also to meet the new people who haven’t broke through yet but have the talent to take you by surprise. There’ll also be tons of panels, screenings of movies, videos, and animation… not to mention gaming, but since I already did, well, nevermind.

It’s going to be a fun time. If you’re able to make it to the show, it’d be cool to talk to you. I’ll be easy to find. I’ll be the guy wearing the StalloneZone t-shirt getting the Stallone drawings.